How Should We Think about Time?

Healthy Kids Tip #30

Why Shouldn't We Assume We Understand?

Healthy Kids Tip #29

Holiday Gifts for Teens

Often when meeting parents at Back to School Night, they would ask me what they could give their children for Christmas or their birthday that would help them get ahead. I loved this question, and soon began writing a list of gift ideas on the board before any parent meeting. Here’s the list I would write on the board this year, (if I was still in the classroom) and the ages when I would give them:

1.   Seven Habits of Highly Effective Students by Sean Covey – Age 13

2.   Personality Plus by Florence Littauer – Age 14

3.   The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz – Age 15

4.   Free $ for College for Dummies by David Rosen and Caryn Mladen – Age 16

5.   The Blue Zones of Happiness by Dan Buettner – Age 17

6.   The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley – Age 18

Of course, it would be unethical to suggest families buy my own book, Free College, if I was still in the classroom, but I’m not. So, long before your child is thirteen, you need a copy of Free College. It’s for all families of Pre-K through high school students (college bound or not). Like the strategy in this article, parents start the process and students take over as they mature.  

You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com

For daily updates to help students earn free money for college, check out my Twitter feed, @elizawallace27. For even more information on college planning and scholarships, you’ll want my new book, Free College. It’s for families of Pre-K through High School students.  Scroll to the top of this page, click on the image of my book on the right, and buy it now from Amazon. 

Photo credit: Google Images

Why Should Parents Encourage Kids to Participate in School?

Winter Break Scholarship Challenge

Although many students want to go to college, few have the financial resources to do so without scholarships, grants or loans. I’m completely against loans, since they often destroy a graduate’s future. That leaves grants and scholarships. They don’t magically appear. Someone has to apply for them.

When writing my book, Free College, I realized I didn’t complete writing many chapters without having a specific goal, with a time limit. Once I set this up, the chapters seemed to write themselves. This is true for scholarship and grant applications too. I suggest setting up a routine for finding, filling out, and submitting college scholarship and grant forms.

To this end, I propose a challenge over Winter Break. For most students, this means two weeks. For others, it may be three. Whichever is the case for you, pick the number of applications you wish to submit during this time. They will all be completed online, of course, so you don’t have to worry about offices being closed. My suggestion is a minimum of one per day, better yet would be two or three.

You’ll still have time for visiting with family and friends, watching football or parades, opening presents, and eating lots of turkey or ham. Discuss your family’s travel plans with your parents in advance. Block out time on a calendar (you can print templates online for free). Then block out your sleep schedule. You’ll do a terrible job if you’re sleep deprived.

You now know when you have free time for meeting this scholarship/grant application challenge. Use a red pen to outline the times you are allotting to find, complete and submit your applications. If you have already filed at least one, you know how much time you’ll need. The average student takes about an hour, after the first one.

Sure, vacations should be fun, but why not dedicate 20 hours of the 500 over the upcoming Winter Break to applying for scholarships? Doing so might result in being awarded thousands of dollars for college. Go ahead and do it. I dare you.

For daily updates to help students earn free money for college, check out my Twitter feed, @elizawallace27. For even more information on college planning and scholarships, you’ll want my new book, Free College. It’s for families of Pre-K through High School students.  Scroll to the top of this page, click on the image of my book on the right, and buy it now from Amazon. 

You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com

Photo credit: Google Images